Alexander gleland



(No Model.)

A. OLELA'ND. ROTARY ENGINE.

Patented July 14, 1 891.

N MEN STATES PATENT FFICE.

ALEXANDER OLELAND, OF DONALD, VICTORIA.

ROTARY ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 455,863, dated July 14,1891. Application filed November 28, 1890- $erial No. 372,976. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER CLELAND, Presbyterian minister, of theManse, Dona1d, in the county of Kara Kara and Colony of Victoria, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Rotary Motive-PowerEngines; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear,and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in theart to which itappertains to make and use the same.

My invention has for its object the construction of a rotary engine forproducing motive power, capable of being propelled by steam, compressedair, water, or (with slight modifications, which will be obvious) by theexplosive force of gas, and which possesses such simplicity andeficiency as to constitute an improvement on the engines of the sameclass which are known to the inventor as hitherto designed.

Referring now to the accompanying sheet of drawings, which illustrate myinvention and form a part of this specification, Figure 1 represents aview in vertical section of my rotary engine through the line A B onFig. 2 as seen facing the piston. Fig. 2 represents a view in transversevertical section of the engine through the line C D in Fig. 1. Fig.3shows a plan view of the interior of the cylinder, showing the diagonalrecess for the abutment.

In all the drawings the same letters of reference are used to denotecorresponding parts.

In my invention a cylindrical piston b, hollow at each end, with adiaphragm c verticallyplaced across the interior, revolves within anouter cast-iron case a, of hollow cylindrical form. One end of the caseis accurately closed by a brass disk 2', having a hollow cylindricalshank 7," projecting outward and forming a bushing to the shaft 19,which is outwardly connected to suitable gearing for the work requiredand is inwardly connected toone end of a U-shaped crank it, the otherend of which has a crank-pin h attached, which passes through the centerof the diaphragm c of the, piston b. The pitch of the crank 'n. isfinely adjusted by moving outward by means of a screw-bolt as a wedge w,which is fitted into the U-shaped space of the yielding crank a, so asto maintain a line of contact between the exterior of the cylindricalpiston Z2 and the cylindrical interior surface of the casing a. Theshank z" of the brass cylinder end i is exteriorly threaded with a malescrew-thread, which engages a female screw cut on the interior of ahollow lug a on the cast-iron outer cylinder-cover, the end of the shankat 0 being shaped like a hexagon nut, and projecting from the lug 1"when the casing is bolted together. By this means the brass end 2' canbe adjusted in the casing to take up wear caused by the working of thepiston b and to insure steamtight fitting of said piston, the wearcircumferentially being overcome by the adjustment of the crank 72, asaforesaid. The diaphragm c has several perforations g g 9, sufficient toallow free passage of steam from the induction end of the casing to theother end, so

that within the piston b there is no residual pressure in any direction.Extending across from end to end of the piston b and cylinder to andattached rigidly to the former, preferably in a plane diagonal to theaxis, a blade d or abutment is placed. This blade is slightly longerthan the stroke of the crank 72, and its end passes into adiagonally-cut recess ,e in the outer cylinder a, said recess beingwidened below to allow the blade to oscillate as it rises and falls withthe revolution of the piston b, The effect of placing the bladediagonally is to cause the circumference of the piston 11 to bearoutwardly against interior of the casing a throughout its revolution. Atthe fixed end of the casing 61- an induction-pipe s is fitted centrallyto the cylinder a to admit steam to the interior of the hollow pistonZ), and in the same end of the casing a groove k, in the form of acircular arc, is out, having a radius equal to that of the piston b forthe admission of steam from the interior of the piston 1) into theexpansion-chamber. The main shaft 1) of engine has an internal collar 0"turned upon it to work against the brass end i of cas-' ing a. The steampressing this outward gives a steam-tight action. The cutoff isregulated by the length of the aforesaid arc or groove k. v The end ofthe piston I) completely closes the groove against the passageof steambefore each revolution begins. On the other side of the blade (Z towhich is the said groove 70 I place the exhaust-port f, which is cut inthe same immovable end of the casing a in the shape of a discontinuoussemi-crescent-shaped prolongation of the cut-off groove 70, but, unlikesaid groove, going through the casing end to the exterior exhaust-pipef. The shape is so designed that the port is entirely covered by the rimof flat piston 19 at the end of the stroke and begins to be freed by therim of said. piston b for eduction of steam as the line of contactbetween piston 11 andcasing a has passed the recess 6, in which theabutmentblade 01 works. By delaying the exhaust to this moment the steamin the recess 6 is saved from exhausting. At the same moment also theends of the arc-shaped cut-off groove are opened, one into the interiorof the piston b, where the live steam is, and the other into theexpanding-chamber, thus beginning a new cycle.

The internal mechanism is oiled by means of an oil-duct t, which isconnected exteriorly with an ordinary cylinder oil-cup g, which ducttraverses the induction-pipe s and projects into the interior of thepiston I). Besides generally oiling the interior, oil may, when thepiston b is at its lowest position, be dropped from the end of this ductinto a cup Qt, fixed on the bearing of the crank-pin h.- The brassbearing 2" of the shaft 19 is oiled by admitting oil from an oil-cup 2through a vertical passage bored in the iron lug into an annularoil-passage in the brass shank i, from which passages lead inwardradially to the shaft 19. To allow for the brass being moved forward atintervals, the annular passage is made sufficiently wide by cutting awayseveral of the screw-threads.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my saidinvention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare thatwhat I claim is 1. In a rotary engine, a cylinder provided with theinduction-port s and a suitable eduction-port, in combination With apiston having a central diaphragm with spacious chambers at its oppositesides and having apertures therein, as set forth, and provided with asingle abutment attached thereto, and a crank-pin working in a recess ofthe casing and actuating the main shaft, all substan- 5o tially as setforth.

2. The U-shaped crank having a wedge and screw fitted thereto, combinedwith crankpin h, whereby the circumference of the piston is adjusted andmade steam-tight, substantially as set forth.

A piston-cylinder provided with a fixed end a having therein a centralinductionport 8 and an eduction-port f, the arc-shaped groove 70, and asemi-crescent-shaped groove, all substantially as set forth.

4. The fixed cylinder end a having the interior narrow arc-shaped groove70 for steampassage, located as set forth, said groove having the sameradius as the piston, combined with a piston having a fiat rim whichacts as a cut-off and regulates the cut off of steam through the port1), all substantially as set forth.

5. In combination with the piston having a fiat rim and an abutmentrigidly attached thereto, a cylinder end provided with the describedinterior narrow arc-shaped groove is on one side of said abutment and onthe other side of this abutment and in the same circle with groove 70,but not connected therewith, a semi-crescent-shaped groove orexhaustpassage, said passage being covered by the rim of the piston atthe end of each stroke, substantially as shown and described.

6. In a rotary engine, the combination, with the cylinder, of thedescribed means for lubricating from the same source both the chamberedpiston and the crank-pin inclosed therein, consisting of the combinationof the oilduct leading axially into the cylinder and into thepiston-chamber, and an oil-cup within such chamber orrecess, supportedasdescribed and located to receive its oil from said duct and tocommunicate it to the crank-pin, all substantially as set forth.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twowitnesses.

ALEXANDER CLELAND.

\Vitnesses:

G. G. TURRI, W. HINTON.

